Lenine Bourke showing her “Walking Together” project

ArTELIER: 25th July at The Underwood centre led by Simon Spain 

This session was themed Giving voice to young people. How can we create expressive modalities that empower children to have a voice in their community as cultural and social citizens?  How do we strengthen spatial thinking and placed-based learning?

Provocateur:  Lenine Bourke joined us from Brisbane.

Lenine Bourke has a broad range of professional experiences in the arts and cultural sector, nationally and internationally, leading various organisations and projects. Recently awarded with an Australia Council Community Partnerships Fellowship exploring Community Engaged Arts Practices and the intersection with Socially Engaged Arts Practices. http://www.creativeaccomplice.com.au/lenine-bourke/

Lenine shared her knowledge from years of working in community with a focus on “centering children in community learning”.  She defined public pedagogy for us as  “the art and science of learning outside institutions” and spoke in detail about her experience of working in various institutions in comparison with working in festival and community based projects. Lenine spoke beautifully and profoundly of children as ‘pedagogical enablers’: “through their lack of inhibition, wildness, wonder and capacity to engage with interruptions and affect nature and politics”.   Her practice centres around the belief that children care about social justice and that they “have considerable capacity to affect”. Lenine challenged that often in projects it is the adult’s body that has made the work and posed a number of questions: “How do children ride the opportunity you are providing them?” and “what opportunity do you provide children to articulate their experience?”

In thinking about planning for projects she shared a vivid analogy for ‘the journey being the experience rather than the destination,’ telling a story of her of three year old deciding to wear flippers out for the day, thwarting any capacity for an adult desire for achievement but embarking on the perfect outing for adventure and discovery. 

Lenine left us with an activity of creating personal archipelago’s – a diagrammatic way of creating a mind map of personal practice. “What are the big and small islands? What are the unnamed islands?  Can you see the reef underneath? Is there volcanic activity?”Please see examples.

In question time Simon asked “how do you in-still confidence in funders give the openness of your approach? “

Lenine: “I propose exceptional experience rather than exceptional outcomes”.

Kitty shared that “as a child “skills were gold” in response to Lenine’s approach of not working with a specific skill sets. Lenine offered that if there is something she cannot do she brings in artists with those specific skills.

Lenine finished by reflecting on the value of responsiveness and co-creation and that that diverse communities need diverse artists giving an example of using iPad concierge for the deaf participants to support inclusion in a project.

Shared Practice:

Selena de Carvalho spoke about the logistic of a recent project Climate Conversation and strategies she uses for framing the idea of collaboration with kids before beginning work. She spoke of the importance of finding allies with organisations who understand and can speak for your project when you are not there.

Climate Conversations HobArt is part of the City of Hobart's review of its Climate Change Strategy and looks beyond the formal report format to reflect our community’s climate emotions and sensations. Working with Seed, a sustainability consultancy service whose work combines science, technical and policy development skills; the City saw the opportunity for a wider community conversation based around art. Selena de Carvalho joined the project as an artistic associate to curate a climate art conversation and worked with Lansdowne Crescent Primary School and the community climate forums to capture climate art archived in this site.

https://climateconversationshobart.hotglue.me/

Selena also shared her experience as artist in residence at Claremont College, embedded in the leaning environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuzhxrQlQu0

Selena introduced us to the structured conversation practice of The Long Table devised by Louise Weaver. Out of our group of 12, 6 people sat around the table. A question is posed for discussion and only those at the table can speak. Anyone unseated must listen and if they have something to add can tap a seated person on the shoulder and the sit in to speak. This creates a dynamic space, one for listening and sharing. We carried this format to our following sessions.

You can download Victoria’s documentation of the day here…